yes check the peripheal families, often families migrated in packs for generations. You might run into a genealogy junkie in a cousins familyand have details on your family.

census records
land records
tax records
marriage,birth & death records
church records

ignore spelling inconsistencies, even simple names get changed. The people were not very literate in the past and the record keepers were often different nationalites who guessed at spelling of foreign languages.,

After you get started keep an open mind on DNA testing, it is a tool to help prove or disprove your paper trail. it does not replace the paper trail.

good luck and remember to study the history in the area your families lived, it helps bring life into the black & white of the dates you gather. I can visualize some of my relatives based on the details I have learned